>be me, 25 years old
>have had kind of a hard early adulthood but overcame it with hard work and therapy
>now working a job that I donโt hate, able to pay bills and afford fun things sometimes
>one morning surfing reddit as usual
>see cringey post about some idiot running around his lunchroom with a troll face
>wondering who the fuck would do-
>suddenly flash back to highschool days
>part of terminally online nerd group
>back when liking reddit and memes were niche and finding others was like finding someone who was apart of fightclub except the first rule was the opposite
>unironically would ask โwhen does the narwal bacon?โ
>forgot my lunch one day and decided to do some epic trolling
>โhey guys watch thisโ
>powerwalk around the cafeteria like a moron stopping at tables to hit them with the troll face, an online meme that only high IQ individuals like myself would get
>table of friends are laughing their asses off
>Their lack of knowledge makes it more of a troll and thus funnier
>friends laughing so hard you can hear their howls from across the lunchroom
>stop at one table that I didnโt see my crush sitting at and throw on my trollface
>before I ask โproblem?โ my crush giggles
>omg annon, you are SO funny, you should do this everyday
>feel a warm jolt of electricity from my toes up legs, in my penis, and up my spine to the top of my head hearing her acknowledge my existence and wanting to see more of my epic comedy performance
>continue trolling until lunch is over
>next day I ask to use the bathroom before lunch
>speed eat my bag of cold lunch in the bathroom and return to class just before the bell
>troll time has been optimized
>do the powerwalk, trollface, problem, routine again
>friends laughing even harder than before
>get to crushes table
>she laughs and claps
>fucking clapping
>for me
>powerwalk even faster now
>power power walk
>continue the same bathroom lunch scarf combined with cafeteria powertrolling
>do this for a full week
>a week turns into a month
>friends laugh less and less each time
>people ignore me more and more each time
>start to get discouraged
>but every time I do it I get to hear her
>her voice, her laughter
>the only thing that keeps me going
>I must commit to the troll, thatโs what truly makes it epic, quitting now will only make it a weird thing I did instead of trolling.
>continue my meme rampage
>eventually start power walking everywhere because eyes are always on me and I must keep up the act, no one can see me break character
>every day at lunch I make my rounds
>friends are silent, sometimes they ask if I could just sit with them that day
>nothing stops the troll
>hips get buff and athletic from the half hour of speed walking every day
>friends eventually stop hanging out with me, a little at first then all together
>now they wonโt talk to me
>no one will
>feel like Iโm in this weird limbo where I canโt stop because if I do then I lost my friends all for nothing and I will just be simply forgotten
>start to dread my troll rounds more each day
>feel like Iโm doing this all without wanting to
>like my free will is gone.
>just a puppet, yanked into position by feelings of self inflicted obligation
>the strings pull my face into a contorted form to make a trollface
>I donโt even want to do this anymore
>sometimes I skip on eating lunch in the bathroom just to have a panic attack
>but still I walk
>and still I smile
>because the show must go on
>even when no one wants me to, including myself.
>but at least thereโs that one thing.
>her laughter
>the small pin print of light in this inky veil of darkness that has become this charade of performance that is my life
>at least she likes me
>at least she wants to see it
>eventually it has become last lunch period of the year
>doing my rounds, same as normal legs sore from a year of constantly being in a hurry
>get to crushes table
>trollfaceactivated.jpg
>โproblem?โ i say
>crush doesnโt respond, just looking down at her phone texting
>feel like they didnโt hear me. I hold the troll face scoot a step forward and say it again
>โproblem?โ
>no reaction from anyone
>still holding trollface, starting to get nervous and embarrassed
>โproblem?โ I say louder scooting closer to her
>nothing
> โpro-โ
>โoh my god annon can you shut the fuck up and go away? Youโre so annoyingโ
>a world breaking rush of cold shock hits my frail mortal body, one that is so intense I canโt process it at once and I freeze in that cold
>โproblem?โ i say, now not cheery, but sounding confused
>guy sitting next to her stands up โdude she said to go away stop bothering herโ not even in an intimidating way just sticking up for her
>my brain is broken, my face is frozen in a trollface
>โproblem?โ i ask loudly and nervous, sweat beading up on my forehead
>โyeah I think we do have a problemโ the guy says, now intimidatingly.
>โproblemโ I nervously shreak out while holding the trollface. Part of the lunchroom turns to look at the scene going down
>the guy shakes his head which makes me think sheโs just going to ignore me
>shoves me out of nowhere
>fly into the other table and collapse it, causing all the peopleโs food to fall on me
>lunchroom laughs at me
>entire groups of people standing up from their seats, some ON their seats to look at me
>their joy filled faces as the annoying weirdo who harassed people for months on end just got what everyone wished for
>crush is laughing and taking pictures
>friend group also laughing at me, patting eachother on the back and pointing
>heart shatters into subatomic particles
>go through the process of jokerfication to ironic joker, to reformed joker, and back to joker, over and over again in a single second
>finally realize Iโm alive and I panic
>run out of the lunchroom, drop out of school immedietly never see any of them in person again.
>few years later I get my GED
>join the army because I want to be tough and have felt pathetic for years
>join as an 11B because I want to do the toughest job to prove to myself and the entire school of people who lived in my head for so long
>and realize itโs just an abuse factory from processing to basic training to being at your unit
> abuse just never stops
>get deployed to syria, sit in the desert for 9 months
>once on patrol we take small arms fire for 30 seconds
>the entire โfire fightโ was trying to figure out which direction it was coming from
>eventually it stops, we vacate, and A-10s fly in and steamroll the entire area in ordinance just because of one guy shooting
>realize this war is just a performance for the US military and show off to exude dominance along with advertising defense contractors with charades like this
>also oil
>get my CIB, get out, able to get 80% disability from my back and mental health, able to get free therapy for it and use the money to live on my own while I work towards getting a personal training certification
>live a few years on the checks before working at my job full time, using that money for extra income
>enjoying life pretty well, find old fellow students on social media
>crush is some medium instagram model/ influencer, also taking pictures in LA and Miami with her nails and hair all done
>old friends work at startups and IT firms
>living life now, having left the past behind, luckily I forgot it. Helping using my Infantryman fitness experience to help others get fit but with the abuse part replaced with positive fun
>wake up one morning, my day off
>surfing reddit as I always do
>see cringey post about some idiot running around his lunchroom with a troll face
>ohgodwhy.jpg
Source:
https://old.reddit.com/q6gveh